Creative writing teacher out of job because student writes of Jesus giving out marijuana to the sick
The administration said that the teacher was not fired, but she chose to resign rather than conduct her class "in a professional manner".
I would think there would be a wide range of what is considered "professional" in a creative writing class of all places. A student writes creatively of a topic that offends another student and their parents. She was targeted and harassed.
I found the news video at You Tube, the article is listed below it.
Creative writing teacher resigns after student writes about Jesus, pot
The assignment was to take a fairy tale or legend and rewrite it in modern times. One student changed the biblical story about Jesus handing out bread and fish to the poor to Jesus handing out marijuana to the sick.
“I don't take any personal offense. It's not written for me. It's written for them. It's how they can express themselves,” said Guarascio.
But according to the teacher, during peer review, one of the other students got highly offended by the story and told her parents. And then the teacher was put on administrative leave while the district investigated.
The teacher had one last message for her students.
“If they have something to say, say it,” Guarascio said. “Not everyone's going to agree with you. But that doesn't make your point invalid or worthless. Tell your story.”
Another article makes it clear that the teacher was said not to be conducting her class in a professional manner. That of course is ridiculous. It was a creative writing class. The student applied a present day problem and told how it might have been handled by Jesus.
Conservative Student Attacks Teacher Over Jesus Story, Teacher Resigns
Katrina Guarascio, a teacher at Cleveland High School in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, gave her class the assignment to rewrite a fairy tale or legend with a modern setting. One of her students, following instructions, rewrote a tale about Jesus, a central biblical figure, to have him handing out marijuana to the sick. During the subsequent peer review session, one of the students claimed to be so offended, she complained to her parents, who then filed a complaint to the school. Guarascio was subsequently placed on administrative leave pending investigation, despite not having violated any rules.
“It was Kind of a slap in the face after years of hard work,” Guarascio said to KOAT 7. The teacher had been working for the school for eight years at the time of the incident. Of the student who claimed offense, she said on Facebook that the student had been bragging to her classmates that she was going to get Guarascio fired. Now Guarascio has resigned amid being “targeted and harassed.”
In response, the school district’s Communications Director Kim Vesely, declining to go on camera with KOAT7, released the following statement:
“The teacher involved chose to resign rather than follow the school district’s direction that classes be administered in a professional manner.”
The teacher said that Kim Vesely was someone she had never met, and someone who had never even been in her classroom.
= new reply since forum marked as read
But now we are in cookie cutter format in education. We got there easily. Time to fight back if there is any time left to do so.
Stupid is in, science is out, prejudice is in, freedom to form your own idea is out.
buys the "bad teachers" propaganda promoted ad nauseum, it becomes easy to target teachers.
Even DUers love to post about bad teachers, and tend to ignore posts defending them. Outside of DU, it can get rabid.
I'm wondering where her union representation was; it should never have come to this. 
Administrators and districts are bound by the same mandates that limit teachers, and that's what drives the "bad" in the system. My principal yesterday said flat out that high-stakes testing demands constrict our time and resources for what our kids really need.
In my experience, the bigger and more bureaucratic, the farther away from the classroom and the student, a school district and its admins get, the more inefficient and less student friendly they get. Districts that hire business people instead of educators, people who have never actually BEEN on the front lines with students, to run things tend to be the worst. In my experience, of course. 
This is the bottom line… The administrator and district are spineless.
In reaction to the narrow-mindedness, you can expect a ministry of "professional" teaching methods, a la 1984.
that it wouldn't be worth her effort and stress. It would have been nice to see her stand her ground, but I can see why she wouldn't want to do so.
Yeah, that's just the kind of person we want to run out of our schools.
Here's a bio from a book of her poetry available on Amazon:
Katrina K Guarascio is a writer and teacher living in New Mexico. As an active member of the poetry community, she has worked as an editor for various literary magazines and small presses, along with hosting poetry workshops and producing various poetry performances, including The Second Saturday Slam, Rio Rancho’s only monthly Poetry Slam and Open Mic.
Guarascio sponsors the Rio Rancho Youth Poetry Community, coaches a youth Slam Team, and produces a yearly literary magazine of student poetry.
http://www.amazon.com/Fall-Sparrow-Katrina-Guarascio-ebook/dp/B00OYB175I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418311476&sr=8-1&keywords=Katrina+Guarascio
Because 1 kid was "offended" this teacher was forced to resign! Freedom of speech is offensive to that girl and her family - oh wait, she was "bragging to her classmates that she was going to get Guarascio fired". Vindictive words from that shithead is also freedom of speech.
They'd rather stifle everyone with non-dangerous and therefore useless rote rules-are-rules "facts."
Truly educated and creative people are dangerous; they have a way of upsetting the established order of things.
Dull, fearful, uneducated, authority and scripture quoting law-and-order people are easier to manipulate.
to out themselves everytime they try to dismantle an entire school system just because Ned Junior saw a woman's nipple in National Geographic...
Ugh. What year is it? I seem to have forgotten. 
But to answer your question it is the year 2014. 98 years before 2112 but 32 years after Subdivisions was released.
Sorry I grew up as a Rush and Police fan. Always wanted to form a band and name it KGB.
Seriously though, sometimes with peoples mind sets these days it does feel more like 1914 then 2014.
I'm a big Rush fan, too, so thanks for this! 
Did you see the BBC article gordianot linked above?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2633187.stm
Interesting ideas.
“If they have something to say, say it,” Guarascio said. “Not everyone's going to agree with you. But that doesn't make your point invalid or worthless. Tell your story.”
Even on her way out the door, she uses her situation as a teachable moment for her students! It's a good thing this district took out this terrible teacher.
